1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to facial vaporizing devices and more specifically to a facial vaporizing device adapted to utilize hot water flow from the spigot of a bath tub or sink to produce hot water vapor for a facial treatment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The benefits of facial sauna and vaporizing treatments for complexion care and improvement are well known and many devices have been designed for this purpose.
Many of the facial sauna and facial vapor treatment devices of the prior art utilize an electrically heated or flame heated vapor generating device together with various structural members forming a housing and means for channelling the generated vapors to an opening where the face of a person may be positioned for treatment. Examples of this type of prior art facial sauna or vaporizer systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,616,122, 4,621,641, 3,712,307, and 949,623. All of these types of devices are relatively expensive to manufacture and are difficult and time consuming to set up and operate.
Caldwell U.S. Pat. No. 1,148,953 discloses a facial steamer that relies on the hot water vapor from a pool of water sitting in a sink. The Caldwell device relies on a cylindrically shaped hood formed of a pliable material and having a bottom gasket which can seal against the sides of a round sink. A coiled spring with widely spaced coils holds the pliable material in a cylindrical configuration. The Caldwell device can only be utilized with a round sink basin and is thus inapplicable to the many different shapes of bathroom sinks which are in vogue today. Furthermore, the Caldwell device requires a relatively complicated set up of the coiled spring and fabric housing before the facial treatment can be initiated, and it is well-known that any item which requires substantial set up time tends to be used less often than a device which is simple and easy to use.
Jeffrey U.S. Pat. No. 2,032,804 teaches a lather mask which is applied to the face of a person such that virtually the entire surface area of the mask is contact with the skin of the person. Jeffrey's lather mask has a band fastened to the corners which is adapted to pass around the crown of the person's head to hold the mask snugly against the chin, mouth and cheek portions of the person's face. Thus the Jeffrey mask is not designed for treating the face with hot vapor but to put major regions of the skin of a person's face directly in contact with hot water
Graham U.S. Pat. No. 1,106,300 teaches a toilet device which may be alternatively used as a face cloth, beard softener (i.e. lather mask), or a compress. A layer or two of non-absorbent material is used as a backing for the water absorbing cloth so that the device can be packaged when wet. The Graham device is intended for direct application of a wet cloth to the surface of the skin, not for treating the skin with hot water vapor without contact of the skin area being treated with the hot water itself.
Becker U.S. Pat. No. 2,705,952 teaches a facial mask with a composite of water pervious material on the inside and water impervious material as the outside layer. The area of water pervious cloth is intended to be saturated with water and then placed against a major portion of the person's face so that the water soaked cloth is directly in contact with the skin. Thus this device is not a vapor treatment device in which only the hot vapor reaches the surface of the skin being treated.